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Volume 17-10 | 3.7.17
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Persistent Advocates
MHLS was well represented in Albany last week with over 50 advocates from our region- the most advocates from our region ever to travel to Albany with us for Library Advocacy Day - visiting 15 legislators and joining with over 800 fellow library advocates across the state for a raucous library rally! MHLS advocates were a show of force!
 
The atmosphere in Albany was one of conviction. Legislators from both houses, the Senate and Assembly not only said they support our budget priorities this year but many of them had put that support in writing to their house leadership. In particular, the Senate Majority leadership was all in for libraries. Senator Flanagan, Majority Leader, spoke up at the rally and told library advocates that "The Senate has your back!"
   
In about a week the one-house budget bills will be introduced which will be the first evidence of whether or not all of our hard advocacy work is paying off... stay tuned! And keep up the good work!

MHLS would like to thank the following sponsors of the buses to Albany, their generosity helped to keep ticket costs at a very reasonable $7 this year!
  • Friends of the D.R. Evarts Library (Athens)
  • Friends of the Howland Public Library (Beacon)
  • Friends of the Cairo Public Library
  • The Claverack Free Library
  • Friends of Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library (Cold Spring)
  • Friends of the Heermance Memorial Library (Coxsackie)
  • Friends of the Town of Esopus Library
  • Friends of Blodgett Memorial Library (Fishkill)
  • Friends of Kent Library
  • Friends of the Greenville Public Library
  • Friends of the Kingston Library
  • Friends of the Mahopac Library
  • Elting Memorial Library (New Paltz)
  • Friends of the Patterson Library
  • Friends of the Pine Plains Free Library
  • Friends of the Poughkeepsie Public Library District
  • Friends of the Starr Library (Rhinebeck)
  • Friends of Saugerties Public Library
  • Friends of the Staatsburg Library
  • Friends of the Mountain Top Library (Tannersville)

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AnnaLee Giraldo, director of the Kinderhook Memorial Library with Gary Spielmann, Kinderhook Board President, Dot Balko, Kinderhook Trustee, Mark Wilson, Kinderhook & MHLS Trustee and Marie Orlando of the Kinderhook Friends Group. 
Senator Sue Serino was in love with the MHLS Real People. Real Dollars. poster MHLS advocates presented her with at Advocacy Day.
A full house at our meeting with Assemblymember Didi Barrett!
Saugerties trustee and former MHLS trustee, Myrna Sameth, Senator George Amedore, Heermance Memorial Library Director Linda Deubert and MHLS Executive Director Tom Sloan
Professional Development
Local history people rejoice!
Introducing the Newest NYLA Round Table!The New York Library Association (NYLA) Local History Round Table (LHRT) is here! They seek to support those involved in local history collections and services in libraries throughout New York State and to assist in advancing NYLA's mission. The Local History Round Table is a resource for practitioners who work at the intersections of libraries and local history. The LHRT will facilitate communication, advocacy, professional development, best practice sharing and education to advance the work of collecting, preserving and making accessible the cultural and historical heritage of New York communities large and small. LHRT welcomes members of all professional backgrounds, encouraging membership for people with diverse specialties and various institutional affiliations. They are eager to start connecting people and promoting the great work we do throughout NYS. To get connected and learn more:  http://bit.ly/2mhfosk
Programming
This winter MHLS conducted a workshop on Strengthening Young Families through Early Literacy Practices , as part of the MHLS focus on offering training in support of member libraries to ensure that our libraries are vital community partners and early learning hubs in their community. Twenty-seven (27) member library staff who serve children from birth to school age attended the workshop, and one of the things they liked best was the activity of conducting a Picture Walk.

A Picture Walk is a conversation around a picture book. The reader and the child or children are the "walkers", looking at the pictures and sharing their ideas about what is happening. It encourages the child to talk about the pictures and for the child and the reader to ask and answer questions. All this happens before the book is read. Participants said they will be adding this technique to their early literacy story time, which also presents a model to parents of how they can take a Picture Walk at home. Parents and other significant caregivers are a child's first and best teachers. Want to know more about conducting Picture Walks? Instructions at 
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